Every business enterprise works to attract new customers and retain existing customers. Various ways of soliciting business are known. Direct mailing is one know method for soliciting business. A business will send mail to a potential customer, offering various goods and services. Direct mailing, however, may suffer from the drawbacks of offering a potential customer goods or services that are not wanted or needed. Telephone solicitation is another known method. Telephone calls, however, may suffer from the drawback of being considered intrusive by potential customers.
Customer research, including survey information, may assist a marketer in providing services and goods that are wanted. Surveys, however, do not address the particular needs or wants of an individual customer. Surveys, at best, may identify trends among a group of people, not the wants or needs of an individual consumer.
Customer research may also be used to retain existing customers. A company may obtain feed back from existing customers, thereby enabling the company to ascertain what product and services customers want, and how existing products and services can be changed. Such customer research, however, may be difficult to obtain, as it depends upon customers to respond to surveys and/or questions. Meaningful customer feedback may be impractical for companies with large numbers of customers, as the only way to obtain feedback may be by use of telephone calls or direct mailings. Customer feedback may not indicate information on how to attract new customers.
These and other drawbacks exist.